63th MUMEI-JUKU (29/11/2022)
Theme: Trends in global geopolitics and science and technology research
Lecturer: Kyosuke Nagata, President , University of Tsukuba
President , University of Tsukuba
◆ Opening Remarks by Shuzaburo Takeda ◆
I am pleased to have President Nagata of the University of Tsukuba, who has taken time out of his very busy schedule to speak to us today.
Generally speaking, people who are called “big professors” in Japan do not always take action on their own, but Dr. Nagata has truly traveled around the world and taken matters into his own hands.
The Japan-U.S. Digital Innovation Hub workshop, which had been suspended for a long time due to COVID-19, was held in Washington D.C. in early November for the first time in a while. The workshop was called the “Japan-U.S. Digital Innovation and Advanced Technology Workshop,” with person from the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University coming forward to host the event themselves this time.
On the Japanese side, Dr. Sakurai, Director of the AI Center at the University of Tsukuba, worked in scrum with them to organize the workshop. Dr. Nagata, president of university of Tsukuba, together with the vice presidents, also attended the meeting. Dr. Nagata’s stay in the U.S. was a forced schedule, lasting only one night. His visit to the U.S. was made possible by the precious time he had amidst his busy schedule of negotiating budgets for science and technology. He is working daily for the development of science and technology and human resource development in Japan, including negotiations with Diet members and the Ministry of Finance, which does not always listen to him.
So, how does Japan’s science (technology) compare with the rest of the world?
As you are well aware, in the background for China’s rapid growth is that after the Communist Revolution, the Chinese regime adopted science as a “the core of geopolitics” as a national policy. As a result, in the 20 years since 2001, China has grown 18-fold in terms of GDP. Whether this will continue remains to be seen or not, but the U.S. is finally realizing this. One such measure is the CHIPS+ bill, which was launched after the Biden administration came to power. The bill passed both the House and Senate in late July and was signed by President Biden on August 9. The Japanese media has been reporting it as the “Semiconductor Act,” which has caused some misunderstanding.
The CHIPS Act is the “Creating Hopeful Incentive Promoting Semiconductor for America” Act, and the “+” includes the Science (Research and Innovation) Act. The content is not only semiconductors. Of course, semiconductors are included, but of this $280 billion total budget, $52 billion is for semiconductors. That alone is a lot, but more than $200 billion is for R&D and innovation to get America going again. The total cost of the U.S. Apollo program is $140 billion in current monetary value, which means that twice that amount has been budgeted for the past five years (the Apollo program is estimated to have contributed $4.2 trillion to the U.S. GDP annually, but what about this time? We’ll consider this another time). But the CHIPS+ bill is, exactly a national policy of the core of geopolitics science in the US.
So, what should Japan do? I would like to hear what Dr. Nagata thinks.
＜My comments＞
President Nagata spoke about the U.S.-Japan Digital Innovation Hub as a university side, but in fact, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NEDO, JST, and the Ambassador of Japan to the United States have all made great efforts to support this project. When we first started the Digital Innovation Hub, in 2015, then Ambassador to the U.S. Sasae attended events at the University of Delaware, University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University and worked with us. While this was an accomplishment by a university side, I would also like to mention that there was a larger push behind it.
How do we move forward in the digital, cyber, space, and quantum information science and engineering (QISE) areas mentioned in today’s talk? I am concerned that Japan is falling further behind due to COVID-19. I think it is important for Japan to interact with the rest of the world in order to address its lagging behind. And when it comes to economic security, I believe that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will play an important role in the future. Until now, environmental issues may have been the focus of diplomacy. Also, dealing with economic friction may have been at the center of diplomacy. But now, science and technology will be at the center of diplomacy. In addition, even a single QISE has made a major difference. For example, in the U.S., 1,500 companies gathered at the Quantum World Congress (November 29-December 1) hosted by Accenture. This is a tremendous trend. I would like as many people as possible in Japan to understand this global movement.
◆Summary◆
We must recognize that the world is now entering the second quantum revolution. As one of the commenters pointed out, we Japanese may not have a philosophy.
The application of the first quantum revolution led to the current computers.
The second quantum revolution is said to have started in the 1960s (due to the activities of S. Bell and others), and we are now finally at the stage of considering the practical application of this theory. One of them is the quantum computer. However, it is meaningless to consider this as an extension of existing computers. The QISE theory is to include them in the discussion, but this has hardly been talk about in Japan.
There was a proposal for a metaverse as the theme of the next Mumei-juku, but I believe that the metaverse is only one of many possibilities.
When the second quantum revolution comes to visiting, what should we prepare for. For all of them? Or should we focus on some specific thing such a basic attitude is still lacking in Japan. Is it good enough universities and the business community have the same plan every year? What should be planning look like in an era of discontinuity? We rarely hear such discussions in Japan. There is no point in making a fuss just because Q-STAR (Quantum Strategic Industry Alliance for Revolution, a general incorporated association for the creation of new industries through quantum technology) has been established. We need to think a little more fundamentally.
There is one more thing we need to think about. This is techno-autocracy, a system in which a dictator uses all technology to protect his own authority. Techno-democracy, on the other hand, is the problem of a different regime, a regime that uses technology to further our freedoms and individual capacities. In the United States, we have already begun to discuss the fatal differences between these regimes.
I have also discussed with my American friends that at the end of the day (even in the Cold War), it is a cooperation between Apollo and Soyuz. This time, I believe that it is necessary to establish some rules, even among techno-democrats, as to what stage of cooperation between the U.S. and China will take place. This is something I would like to see seriously addressed not only by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but also by those involved in technology.
Discussion on the CHIPS+ bill
Then, the discussion in the U.S. in the CHIPS+ is in the direction that the future of the U.S. should not rely on specific universities, companies, and professors, but rather raise the level of all America. They believe it will be more effective for the next period, which may occur anywhere in the future. Both NSF and OSTP (Office of Science and Technology Policy) are moving in this direction.
What I want to say to those involved in Japan’s science and technology policy is that the top management should go out and directly exchange opinions with such people in the U.S. When the Japan-U.S. Digital Innovation Hub was launched, I asked then RIKEN President Matsumoto to go to the U.S. and talk with them. The people in the U.S. listened to what he had to say. I would like to see Japanese leaders have the energy and lightness of footwork of former RIKEN President Matsumoto and President Nagata, who traveled to the outside world on their own. Thank you again for your time today.
